


For the Birds

by polyphaga



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Birdwatching, Fluff, HBD jess, M/M, comfort/comfort, this is the smoopiest thing I've EVER written, vaugely - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyphaga/pseuds/polyphaga
Summary: When Kaz gets roped into helping a stranger rescue an injured bird, he gets more than he expected. OOF- that's so cliche, isn't it? Sorry, this is purely meant to be cute. College/Modern Day AU, some mild Reincarnation themes suggested? I wanted to hit on all the softest possible topics. AS ALWAYS INSPIRED BY KAWAIIBOOKER'S V... and HAPPY (slightly late) BIRTH DAY GIRL





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kawaiibooker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaiibooker/gifts).



It was starting out as a rough morning that only indicated a rougher day ahead. Kaz wrestled himself from the crowded coffee house, a huge backup gathering at the door, and no one had wanted to budge from their spot in line. He checked his phone and groaned, realizing he was already running a bit late for the first class of three that day, and had just received a panicky text from one of his group members that his USB drive had been put through the laundry, destroying their presentation for that day. His thumb hovered over the keyboard, not sure if there was anything he could suggest. He tried to keep pace in the direction of his car on the far side of the busy parking lot while slowly typing, deleting, retyping, what was unlikely to be a useful message at that point, and taking a sip of his coffee. He winced after the first bit, realizing he’d been handed the wrong cup, and the drink he had left the shop with was full of milk and sugar. Gross, but he was running late as is, so he couldn’t even turn around and ask them to pour him a new cup.

“Hey, watch it!” He huffed in frustration as someone backed into him, sending a fair portion of the diluted, syrupy coffee sloshing over his hand. The guy who had backed into him didn’t respond, but instead crouched down, seemingly oblivious to the people edging around him, or the other cars in the parking lot, all hurrying on their way to school or work.

“What are you doing?” Kaz asked, still with an edge of annoyance. The man was crouched low to the ground, next to a carboard box, holding a towel with both hands. Just as Kaz asked, it become clear. He swiftly reached out to grab and wrap up the pigeon that was waddling in front of him, with one wing hanging asymmetrically low to the ground. He held the bird tight to his chest for a moment, before gently slipping it into the box, padded with more towels. Only then did he look up and notice Kaz standing over him, with coffee still dripping down his arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I…” He scooped up the box in his arms and stood to his full height, broad-shouldered and slightly taller than Kaz had expected, for some reason. “I noticed there was a bird around here with a broken wing, so I wanted to get it to a wildlife center…” He trailed off, evaluating Kaz’s unamused and caffeine-deprived look. “Hey. The sooner I get it there the better but I could buy you another coffee, if you want. I just wasn’t paying attention.”

“It… It’s fine, I have to hurry, anyways,” Kaz stammered after a moment, realizing with slight embarrassment that he’d been gawking for a few seconds after the man had finished. His face flushed as he fumbled for his car keys in his pocket, trying to find the lock button to remind himself where the hell he parked.

“You have a car?” The other man asked as Kaz turned away, looking along the rows of cars for a pair of flashing headlights. It was only 10 minutes ago, why couldn’t he remember where the fuck he’d parked? “Uh… I know I’ve already made you late but could you… well… it’s only a 15-minute drive to the wildlife center and when I usually take the birds on a crowded bus the noise can make them nervous so they might hurt themselves more… I’m sorry I know you’re late but… I’ll buy you lunch?”

Kaz looked away from the lines of cars, back at the man hugging the box against his chest, trying for a hopeful, encouraging look. Kaz met his look with a purely unamused one.

 “You’re telling me this isn’t the first time you’ve rescued a bird from a parking lot?”

“No, it’s only like the second or third time from a parking lot… more like fifth overall.”

Kaz’s forehead creased as he sighed and raised his eyebrows, but for some reason he couldn’t outright reject that teasing, gentle smile. He jumped a bit as his own car finally responded with a soft honk and the unclicking of its locks.

“Fine, get in.” As the mysterious stranger with the pigeon happily piled into the passenger side of his car, carefully balancing the box on his steepled knees, Kaz quickly rattled off a text message to his ECON-201 group.

_Sorry, I’m totally sick today, can’t leave my room. Ask prof to reschedule?_

“Missing a class?” The other man guessed as he pressed send and then tossed the phone onto the back seat.

“Yeah,” Kaz responded, channelling his nerves into awkwardly jamming the key into the ignition. For some reason the apologetic softness of his voice only made him more agitated. “Don’t worry about it.”

 

The rest of the ride went mostly in tense silence, with the man in the passenger’s seat occasionally giving directions. The directions were firm and succinct, making it clear he’d done this before. As Kaz pulled into the wildlife center parking lot, he jumped out before the car even came to a full stop, rushing the cardboard box inside. By the time Kaz stepped out of the car and into the reception area of the building, he was nowhere to be found. Kaz lingered on brochures about birdwatching groups and local campgrounds, things he’d always thought would be nice to try but never seemed to have the time for, until his passenger reemerged from the back room, looking relieved, and his box of towels trailing by his side, held in one hand. His eyes met Kaz’s, and he looked genuinely surprised.

“Wow, I wasn’t sure you’d wait!”

“Well, you said you’d buy me lunch, and I have time for something quick before my afternoon classes.”

“Ah, and here I thought you cared about the bird too,” he responded, teasing again as if they’d known each other for years. Kaz rolled his eyes. But--

“Well, I guess I’m curious about that too. Will it pull through?”

“She’ll be fine! It was a small break so they should be able to rehabilitate her and return her to the wild soon. What a relief, right?”

“Yeah,” Kaz responded, surprised by how sincere, how invested it sounded coming out of his own mouth.

“Thank you so much,” the other man said, going in for a handshake, but then clasping Kaz’s hand with both of his. “I’m so sorry I bothered you, but that makes it all worth it, right? Thank you,” he repeated, before dropping his hands back down to his side. “I’m Vincente, by the way.”

Vincente, for some reason the name conjured up an individual who was noble, protective, deceptively strong, even though Kaz couldn’t remember and people, or even celebrities he’d associate the name with.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Kaz,” he responded.

“Oh? What’s that short for?” Vincente asked. Kaz bristled a bit at the question. He hated being asked about his name.

“Um… Kazuhira,” He admitted. “My mom… was Japanese.” He looked away for a moment, subconsciously adjusting his sunglasses. It was always such an awkward detail to expose, not only because his mother had passed away, but due to his father being a stereotypically strong-jawed, blonde American, he didn’t look very Japanese either, aside from slight cues in the shape of his eyes, which he usually kept hidden.

“Was? I’m sorry…”

“No no no, it was forever ago, I was a kid,” Kaz lied. It was the same lie he had told everyone else who found out his mother had died since starting college. Truthfully, she had only passed away months before he finished high school, when her chronic illness suddenly took a turn for the worse. His father already lived on the other side of the country, obviously so absorbed in his new family that news that his ex-wife had been deteriorating for weeks came as a surprise. He offered to pay for Kaz’s college as if it was some sort of penance for being unwilling to allow him to disrupt the new life he’d made for himself.

Well, his dad had recreated himself, as if all the unpleasant, unglamorous parts of his life had never existed. Kaz figured he could do the same thing. Even if it hurt. After all, who would want to be friends with a weird, half-Asian kid, with a broken family and a dead mom, and a closet full of samurai movies and Japanese history books? Everything about his life from before had been an utter buzzkill, frankly.

Vincente smiled and tilted his head, seeming slightly unconvinced but not pressing on the issue.

“Right, well… What are you in the mood for? I could do with a burger.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Kaz agreed. “Burgers are always good.”

 

Kaz had noticeably relaxed by the time they were sitting across from each other, digging into their hard-won lunch. Upon returning to the car Kaz checked his phone and had gotten a response from his group members that the professor had given them an extension. He was also pleasantly surprised when Vincente directed him to, not just any McDonalds, but a local burger joint that was slightly swankier. Vincente also didn’t so much as flinch when Kaz ordered extra cheese, bacon and curly fries to go with his burger, and footed the whole bill.

“So what do you do,” Kaz asked, as they both worked towards the end of their meals. “Besides being a hero to birds everywhere?”

Vincente laughed. “I’m studying veterinary medicine. So I guess you could say I’m looking to expand my heroism to all animals.” He grinned, reaching across the table to swipe one of his last few fries in the ample blob of ketchup still left on Kaz’s tray. “What about you, I didn’t catch what you study.”

“Oh, uh… I’m a business major.”

“And do you like it?”

“I don’t know… It’s only my first semester… It’s… whatever, you know?”

Vincente nodded but frowned slightly, taking a thoughtful bite from his burger.

“Did you want to do something else?”

“I guess I’ve always been interested in history, but I remember when I was a kid, I brought my report card home in middle school and was so proud that my best grade was in World History, and he just said, well… something like, ‘that’s great, but it doesn’t really pay the bills.’”

“Oh.” Vincente went quiet for a moment.

 _Shit_ , Kaz thought to himself. _What an awkward thing to say to some guy you’ve just met._ He scrambled to try and salvage the conversation, turning it in a more positive direction.

“I mean, it feels good to really work, you know? I’m always busy with something so… knowing that it’ll lead to a good future, that makes it worth it.”

“Right,” Vincente nodded. “What do you do for fun then?”

Kaz paused, stuffing a few more bites of burger into his mouth to give himself time to think. “Uh, well, it’s a big campus so there’s pretty much a party going on somewhere every night, so that’s cool.”

Vincente cocked an eyebrow. “And that’s fun?”

Kaz felt a flush rising in his cheeks and swallowed the rest of his food hard. “Yeah, I guess? What’s with grilling me about everything?”

Vincente grinned mischievously in response. “Relax, I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“Fine, well, what do you do, then?” Kaz’s eyes dropped down to look at his remaining fries, happy his sunglasses were probably concealing the fact that he was blushing. Why was he getting so worked up about this?

His first thought was, well, he is kind of handsome for a guy, right? And his second was, why was that my first thought?

“Hmm, well, I really like hiking and birdwatching, but I guess that’s kind of predictable.” Vincente went on after a moment. “I also really like watching cooking shows, even if I can’t cook worth shit myself.”

Kaz leaned back in his chair cockily. “It isn’t that hard, I’ve gotten really good at it myself—“ he cut himself off, remembering that ‘since my mom got sick’ was the logical conclusion to that sentence.

“Really? Maybe you could give me a lesson then.”

“As nice as that sounds… I’m way too busy. I’ve always wanted to go hiking too but never have the time.”

“Too busy feeling obligated to go to house parties every night?” Vincente said dryly.

“Yeah, guess so,” Kaz said with a shrug and a sigh.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Vincente asked after a beat of silence. “I was planning on hiking up to this really good birding spot, apparently not many people know about it.”

Kaz thought about what he had planned. Saturday evening, a dinner date with a cute sorority girl who was already in Junior year. He couldn’t recall her name, but she was definitely the type a cool business major should be dating. That would likely lead to any of the interchangeable house parties going on and—As he thought about it, it started to feel more like work than relaxation, even if it would lead to getting laid, or, failing that, wasted, and spending Sunday nursing a hangover.

“Is that an invitation? Fine, I’ll come along.”

 

They met up Saturday afternoon, in the parking lot outside of a nearby nature park. Kaz felt confident as he drove in, but was hit by a sudden wave of nerves as he saw Vincente in a heavy coat with a large backpack.

“Hey,” he said, giving a slight anxious wave as he exited the parked car. “You, uh.. didn’t tell me to bring anything.”

Vincente only smiled.

“Don’t worry, this is just some of my crap. You’ll be fine as is.”

They started out on easy trails, well-marked paths with only a gradual incline. But after almost an hour of walking, Vincente grabbed Kaz’s arm, and redirected him towards something that, at first glance, didn’t look like a path at all.

“It’s this way,” he said.

Kaz glanced up the barely-treaded grass sceptically.

“Are you sure? Looks…” Steep, slippery, like we might get lost, he wanted to say, but already Vincente was pushing forward through the tall grass, heading straight up the side of a hill and weaving between trees. Kaz realized he didn’t remember the way back to the parking lot, and probably had no choice but to follow. Huffing, and grumbling under his breath he followed Vincente’s charge.

The way up was messy, and occasionally a bit dangerous. One incline seemed to be made of just mud and slick rocks, but, with Kaz clasping desperately to V’s forearm, they managed to make it up. Kaz was nearly panting, feeling itchy and sweaty and annoyed that his shoes were now scraped up and covered with mud, and was about to complain, when Vincente again grabbed his arm, pulling him along to the top of the hill they’d been scaling.

“We’re here.”

At the top of the hill, there was a firm bed of earth and rock that jutted out over a beautiful view of evergreen trees parting around a lake. On the lake swam clusters of ducks and every so often a bolt of color would stream by overhead, tiny songbirds flocking back and forth. The birds sang little snippets of their songs to each other, gathering a last bit of food or material for their nests before the sun began to lower in the sky. Kaz didn’t notice that Vincente had already left his side to take a seat on the flat, clear ground, and pulled a set of binoculars out of his bag.

“Come on Kaz, take a seat. This is what we came for after all.” He lifted the binoculars to his eyes, his line of sight bouncing from one bird to the next. He was still looking through them as Kaz carefully lowered himself into a sitting position next to him. Instead of looking out over the view, Kaz watched Vincente’s profile for a moment. Something about him, resting his arm on one knee and scanning the horizon with a pair of binoculars, felt oddly nostalgic.

“Ever seen a woodpecker?” Vincente’s sudden question made Kaz jump out of his trance.

“Uh… no?”

“You’re about to.” Vincente lowered the binoculars, shooting Kaz a smile before passing them to him. Kaz slid his sunglasses up and put the lenses to his eyes, fidgeting a bit as he felt the other man’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him where to look.

“See that one with the long beak? On the one leaning pine tree over there?”

“Yeah, oh! There it goes!” Kaz said excitedly, as the bird began to peck away at the hole it was forming in the tree. After a few moments, it flew away, and Kaz lowered the binoculars, turning to hand them back to Vincente. He had leaned back on his arms, regarding Kaz with a warm grin.

“Were you just staring at me the whole time?” Kaz asked.

“Well… I mean, you were so excited. It was kind of funny.” Vincente teased. “Come on, don’t make that face. Let’s see if we can find some cardinals.”

 

Eventually the sound of the songbirds died down and the evening began to darken. Kaz felt his heart drop as he realized, this was it, soon Vincente would decide to get up, they’d walk back down and part ways. But what had he expected? Kaz only knew he didn’t want it to be over yet.

“I hate when it gets dark so early this time of year,” he blurted out into the peaceful calm.

“Well, there’s always stargazing once it gets dark,” Vincente suggested, a smile creeping onto his face. “Glad you’re having fun.”

They waited, enjoying the sounds of crickets and frogs as the sky dimmed and the stars began to come out. It didn’t seem to bother Vincente, but Kaz began to feel the chill of the autumn night making its way through his coat, causing him to shiver.

“Um, it’s a little cold up here though.”

“Oh, silly me, I forgot.” Vincente laughed, shrugging off his backpack and zipped it open. “I have a blanket in here, it’ll help if you sit a bit closer. And—“ He reached into the bag, pulling out a thermos that was still warm to the touch and handing it to Kaz as he unfolded the blanket. “I got some coffee too. It won’t be piping hot now but it’ll still be good.”

Kaz scooted himself a bit closer, and then when Vincente had spread the blanket over their laps, handed the thermos back to him. Vincente poured a bit from the thermos into the cup, thick steam rising off of it, and took a sip before looking up at Kaz and wincing with embarrassment.

“Oh, shoot… there’s only the one cup. Sorry…” He nervously wiped where he’d used the cup against his shirt and refilled it before handing it to Kaz. Kaz took it to his mouth and drank.

Black coffee. He looked across at Vincente, the feeling of their fingers brushing as he passed him the cup at the forefront of his mind, but it also felt like a distant memory at the same time.

“You made black coffee,” He said, absentmindedly.

“Oh, is it ok? For some reason I thought that was how you liked it… Stupid really.”

Kaz laughed, finishing off the cup. “No, it’s fine. That is how I like it.”

Vincente smiled back at him. “Well, today worked out perfectly, then.”

The stars had begun to come out, and Kaz passed the cup back to Vincente, using the opportunity to slide a bit closer to his warmth. They were very close now, but the other man didn’t seem to bristle at the inevitable moments of warm contact they had in such a position. Kaz imagined he smelled of smoke, gunpowder, leather and sweat, even though he couldn’t imagine such a gentle guy firing a gun. Still, the vivid sensation of those smells seemed to linger along with the coffee, and gave him a warm feeling, enough to let his guard down.

“Hey…” He started off nervously, nudging Vincente with his shoulder. “I kind of lied to you a little.”

“Hm?” Vincente responded, still looking at the stars.

“My mom… actually passed away just a few months ago. I just lie about it when I meet someone new so they don’t treat me like a weirdo.”

“Oh, god I’m so sorry, that sounds really rough…” Vincente hesitated slightly before giving him a slight pat on the shoulder. “I’m glad you told me but.. What brought that on?”

“Well…” Kaz swallowed hard, trying not to get too nervous. “I just feel like, you’re the first person I’ve met since coming here where I feel like you want me to be myself. So I felt bad about it.”

Vincente gave him a long look Kaz wasn’t sure how to read, _Sadness? Kindness? Sympathy? Pity?_ , and lightly rubbed his shoulder before pulling his hand away. “Well, that's nice of you, but come on Kaz, you should talk to people about that, not keep it bottled up.”

“But it’s weird, they never know how to react,” Kaz went on. “It’s easier to just pretend it happened ages ago, and I’m over it.” He could feel his voice wavering, but kept going as the white lies he’d told kept unfolding. “My parents were separated too. Dad has a whole other family. He just pays for my college because he feels bad for me, I think… and it makes me feel like a burden.”

“Which is why you’re deciding what to do based on what you think would please him,” Vincente said, pointedly. Kaz was taken aback.

“Uh… yeah. I guess so.” Kaz hugged his knees to his chest underneath the blanket, huddling closer to the warmth from his friend. “But it feels good, you know? That moment when you’re just what people want you to be, and you’re perfect.”

Vincente raised his eyebrows at Kaz sceptically.

“You really make me worry, Kazuhira,” he said in a mock-serious voice. Before Kaz could respond to his scolding tone he poured himself another cup of coffee and went on, not bothering to wipe off the cup this time. “Making other people happy is fine, but if you never do anything for yourself you’ll lose who you are, alright? And you’ll find out that kind of satisfaction is always short lived.”

“Pff. Yes sir,” Kaz said, rolling his eyes.

“I’m serious Kaz, make yourself do something you want to do sometime.” He filled the cup with the last of the coffee in the thermos and passed it to Kaz. “Now, I sure hope you know some constellations, because I don’t, not really.”

Kaz laughed, taking the last few sips of the lukewarm coffee.

“Pretend like you do.”

“Alright.”

 

Between the black coffee, the warmth of the man at his side, gazing up at the stars at night and hearing Vincente’s voice describing whatever made up stars and planets he could come up with to fill the sky, Kaz fell into a comfortable peace. He stopped wondering why it all felt so familiar and just accepted that, perhaps, it was just something special about the guy he’d run into shuffling a hurt pigeon into a box. Maybe he just inspired this sort of trust in people.

“—And I hope you’re satisfied because I think I’m out of ideas for planets,” Vincente concluded with a laugh, turning to Kaz. They had inched closer and closer together, and now Kaz was almost resting his head on his shoulder. He looked up, making firm eye contact with Vincente.

“I feel like I’ve known you forever,” he said, squinting slightly. “Do people tell you that a lot?”

“Not that I can remember.” Vincente returned Kaz’s gaze, and then frowned. “Hey!”

“What?” Kaz sat up suddenly.

“Were you even paying attention? How could you see what I was talking about with those sunglasses on?” Vincente scrunched his face in annoyance. “That’s so dorky. Take ‘em off.”

Kaz smiled, sliding them off and setting them to the side.

“You caught me, I guess I’m just getting tired, zoning out, you know.”

“Want to head back?”

“A little longer, please. Like just ten minutes.”

“Ok.” Vincente scooted a bit closer and put his arm around Kaz’s shoulder again. “But seriously, only that long. I’m even starting to get cold now.”

“Right.”

Now that he had his glasses off, Kaz could really look at the stars, see how much brighter they were this far out from the city. But it only held his interest for a few moments.

 _Make yourself do something you want to do sometime_.

Kaz leaned in towards Vincente slowly, succeeding in sneaking closer as he was distracted by the stars. When he was close enough, he gently pressed enough of his weight into Vincente’s shoulder to get him to notice and turn his head in his direction, and then pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss, pulling away after only a moment.

“Kaz?”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, that was weird,” Kaz muttered, his face going hot instantly. “I’m sorry, I’m not… I mean… that was stupid. I was just thinking about what you said, about making myself do something and that popped into my head, it’s… I don’t...”

“Hey, give me a second. I didn’t say I hated it,” Vincente said with a small smile. “Just surprised.”

He pulled Kaz closer with both arms, tilting his head back so that he could give him another brief kiss. It felt like something had finally snapped into place, in the distant past and present all at once. Vincente could feel his face flushing as Kaz eagerly pressed closer, beginning to take a few experimental swipes with his tongue, but he didn’t have much time to escalate until his lips started trembling again from the cold. He rested his head on Vincente’s shoulder, teeth chattering slightly.

“I’ve… hah… Never wanted to do that to a guy before,” he said after a moment, then leaned down and felt around on the ground for his sunglasses.

“Well, you didn’t seem too bad at it,” Vincente responded coyly.

“Yeah, well…” Kaz shot him a slightly annoyed look as he slid his glasses back on and stood up, shuffling in place and rubbing his shoulders to get warm again. “Just come on and pack up the stuff, alright? I’m freezing.”

“Right, right.” Vincente folded the blanket and returned the thermos to his backpack, then stood up and slung it over his shoulder. He let one hand fall to his side, and was surprised when Kaz instantly took it in his own, their fingers meshing together. Kaz gave his hand a tight squeeze.

“It’s dark, don’t wanna lose you.”

“Sure, tough guy,” Vincente said, smiling as they quietly made their way back to town.


End file.
